SpecialFrog wrote:Indeed, but treating Islam and Muslims as monolithic is at best unhelpful.

Islam is the religion practised by Muslims. There are over 1.5 billion Muslims.

A worldview that fails to recognize the existence of nuance is unlikely to yield useful solutions.

Again, that makes sense.

That's why it's impossible to take Sam Harris seriously as a thinker when he says that Ben Carson has a more accurate view of Islamic terrorism than Noam Chomsky because Chomsky recognizes that the cause -- and therefore the solution -- is complicated and is unwilling to say that it's all happening because of some things in the Quran.

"Life is nothing but an electron looking for a place to rest" -- Albert Szent-Gyrgyi

tuxbox wrote:[quote="SpecialFrog"]Indeed, but treating Islam and Muslims as monolithic is at best unhelpful.

Islam is the religion practised by Muslims. There are over 1.5 billion Muslims.

A worldview that fails to recognize the existence of nuance is unlikely to yield useful solutions.

Again, that makes sense.

That's why it's impossible to take Sam Harris seriously as a thinker when he says that Ben Carson has a more accurate view of Islamic terrorism than Noam Chomsky because Chomsky recognizes that the cause -- and therefore the solution -- is complicated and is unwilling to say that it's all happening because of some things in the Quran.[/quote]Agreed. Harris seems to postulate that Islamists just really really believe the Qu'ran and that is why they act the way they do. He also postulates that moderate Muslims don't take their beliefs seriously which is why they aren't violent psychopaths. I don't know what authority he thinks he has to say such a thing.

His exchange with Chomsky was the most embarrassing thing I've read in a long time.